I see the sales guys at work using CRM techniques where they have a massive database which reminds them when to call people, make notes about when and where they are going on holiday, etc. So, now I'm wondering how I could apply 'CRM' in my personal life as I feel I need it too in that context.

More specifically, are there any apps available for the iPhone that can help with something like that? I know I could just use Omnifocus with a standard GTD approach - I have used that with reasonable success.

This is something I have wondered myself to no perfect answer. I rolled up a hack with iframes and Google Forms but would probably do something better with Open/Libre Office base or PHP/MySQL at some point. However email, contact and other etc integration would be better.
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Matthew BrownApr 12 '14 at 7:58

5 Answers
5

My answer would depend based on your comfort-level with technology. If you're used to using the command line and you're running on OS X 10.6+, you have the option of using Fat Free CRM with Pow.

If you're not really a command-line person, I would suggest something like Highrise by 37Signals. I love everything they do, and using Highrise means you can access the system from your iPhone either in mobile Safari or using a dedicated app.

Beyond that, you could always try to "roll your own" using Bento from FileMaker. Bento comes with the option to sync with the Bento iPhone app.

Etolos CRM for iPhone is a feature-rich customer relationship management (CRM) application that gives any business the ability to automate and manage customer follow-up. The tools available in Etelos are powerful, yet simple to use. And Etelos CRM takes advantage of the unique capabilities of iPhone and iPod touch. Features include the following:

Email management

Contact management

Task management

Appointment setting

Access anywhere

And much more …

New e-mail search and chat capabilities, new iPhone integration features such as touch-to-dial, touch-to-map and high-performance AJAX views for the iPhone screen.

Heap CRM keeps all or your contacts, messages, e-mails, files, events, tasks and much more all together. Use our automation tools to follow-up on prospects automatically through E-Mail or Google Docs. With Heap CRM you always know what is happening in your small business.

Main Features:

Advanced Dashboard

Messages

Calendar

Contacts

Crazy Powerful Search System (now with search intent)

Reports (Including Search Reports)

Report Visualization and Google Visualization API data source

Event Templates (Sales-force Automation)

Many more features

The Offline Mobile Interface works on your iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad even if you don't have an Internet connection.

CRMs are really meant for groups of people to use. The popular open source Sugar CRM even recommends having at least three users first before starting use. It may also help to have a paper system in use before making the transition. As someone who used to work in sales for a startup I found myself waisting more time reading about CRMs then actually using one. Sugar CRM has a great white paper on selecting a CRM based on your needs if you really want to go that route, and they do have a pretty good mobile app.

Humans are naturally wired to keep in touch with about 150-200 people. A tribe, essentially. Anymore than that, and you probably will have to automate some tasks, but have contact procedure planned out before shopping for CRMs, otherwise you'll spend a lot of waisted time on it.